Ingot mold



S. E. .HITT AND J. I. PEYTON.

INGOT MOLD.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18, 1920.

2 9 .7 a w m/ 4 1T. 0 Af w 9H lr/ Z Hm M 5 Wm a3 Mw F ds M W. m m F. N E V N S. E. HITT AND J. I. PEYTON.

INGOT MOLD. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18, 1920.

Patented. July 111, 1922 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTO RS S. E. HITT AND J I. PEYTON.

INGOT MOLD. APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18, 1920.

1,41%,572, v Patented July 11, 1922,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES INVENTORS u WXM T all whom it may concern:

a we PATENT @FFHQE.

SAMUEL E. nrrr, or ELYBIA,OHIO, ennfaosnrn: r, EEYTON, or on'rcaeo, ILLINOIS,

.rneor moan."

. S ieci iication of Letters latent. P t t d July 11, 2

Application filed December 1a, 1920. Serial no". 481,641.

Be it known that we, SAMUEL E.

and JOSEPH I. PEYTON, citizens of the Ingot Molds.

United States, and residents, respectively, of Elyria,- in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio, and of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of. Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in I of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in ingot molds and is for the purpose of overcoming certain difiiculties encountered in the manufacture of our previous inventions claimed in United States Patents Nos. 1,139,219 and 1,139,284 issued May 11th, 1915, Canadian PatentsNo. 162,723 issued May 25th, 1915,'and No. 162,873 issued June 1st, 1915, British Patent No. 12,047 (under international convention.) date claimed, 22nd of August, 1914,-and United States Patent No. 1,230,405 issued June 1 9th,1917.

. In general, the object of our invention, as set forth inthe above mentioned patents, is to provide an improved ingot mold adapted to minimize the defects dueto pipes, blow holes, cavities and segregation usually found in ingots that have been cast in metallic molds. In our presentinvention we accomplish this result in a similar manner to that described and claimed inthe aforesaid patents by placing a vacuum chamber in the upper portion of the moldwalls to prevent I'fldlfitiOIljOf heat in the upper portion of the mold when the ingot is being cast; thus causing'the upper portion of the cast to remain liquid after the lower portion of the cast has started to solidify, so that, if pipes or cavities of any kind have a tendency to form during the period of solidification, the liquid metal in the upper portion of the mold automatically feeds down and fills all such cavities as fast asformed, thereby producing a solid ingot.

= One object of our present invention is to provide a constructionthat will permit of to so reduce the cost of manufacture that it can be used when casting ingots which are to be rolled into shapes, such as ill-beams,

angles and the like, rail road rails and low grade steels in general.

Referring to the drawings :F ig. 1 is an elevation of. an open top ingot mold to which our invention is applied. Fig. 2 is a vertical section'on the line y y of F ig. 1, showing the vacuum chamber in the upper portion of the old. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the ingot mol shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the linear w of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a partial section .on the line 3/ y of Fig. .1 showing theupper portion' of the ingot mold wall as in Fig." 2, but enlarged to show the chamber closure in more detaill; Fig. 6 is a plan of the valve box. Fig.

7 is a vertical section" on the line on) of line w'w of Fig.6. Fig. 9 is an elevation of our ingot mold made in two sections for-reasons hereinafter described. F ig, 10 is a partial vertical section on the line a e of 9. Fig. 11 is a plan view of this alternative construction.

In the drawings, 1 is the open top ingot. mold, in external-appearance similar to those now lncommon use. The lugs 2 are for the purpose of stripping the mold from the ingot when, cooled, in .the usual-manner. 3 is the vacuum chamber in the upper portion of the ingot mold wall 4. 5 is the inner wall of the vacuum chamber 3, reinforced by the vertical ribs;- 6 and the horizontal ribs 7 8 is'the outer wall of the vacuum chamber 3.

v Fig, 6.- Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the A .As shown in Fig. 2, the inner chamber wall 5 and the outer. chamber wall 8 .are made continuous with the mold wall 4to facilitate the molding of the ingot' mold 1 inthe foundry.

9 is the opening at the top of the chamber 3 10 is the closure for the top of the vacuum chamber 3, as shown in Figs. 2, 5 and 10, and consists of a metallic cover resting'on shoulde'rs or shelvesll and 12 in the side walls *5:

and 8.,respectively andis further secured to the side walls 5 and8- by the welds 14 and 15' respectively. As -shown in Figs. 3 and 11', the cover 10 is annular in form to completely cover the .opening -9 between the chamber walls 5 and 8, and when welded tothose ,walls, completely closes the vacuum chamber.3, making. it air. tight. The cover 10 .is preferably welded to the chamber walls .5 and-8 by the oxyacetylene flame, but could 60 I shown'in Figs. 9, 10 and 11, in which the be done by the electric are or other methods now in common use.

. The cover 10 is welded in between the chamber walls and 8 a short distance down from the top to allow room for the clay fill 16,'so used to prevent damage to the cover tical ribs 6 and the horizontal ribs- 7 are in-' tegral with the chamber wall 5 and herein considered a part of Wall 5. These ribs '6 and 7- are place-d at intervals over the inner chamber wall 5 to prevent buckling of the wall 5w'hen it becomes red hot due to .con-

tact with the molten metal, when the ingot [is poured. The upper extremities of the ribs'6 are beveled or cut away at 17 to be free from interference with the cover 10. A space 18 is left between the ribs 6 and 7 and the outer chamber wall 8 so ,that the inner chamber wall 5 is free to expand both horizontally and vertically independently of the outer chamber wall 8. When the ingot is poured, the inner chamber wall 5 becomes red hot, while the outer chamber wall 8 is only slightly heated, causing-an expansion of the inner wall 5 greatly in excess of the expansion of the outer wall 8. If. this excessive expansionof the inner wall 5 was all in a vertical direction, then a flat platecould be substituted for the cover 10, but

- as the difference in expansion of the walls 5 vantages gaine and 8 is also in a horizontal direction, the

cover 10 is preferably grooved to offer greater flexibility, thereby relieving "the welds 14 and 15 of excessive strain.

As no practical means has yet been found for welding steel and cast iron, it follows that our invention requires the mold 1 to be a steel castin For small molds, the adby the vacuum chamber would more than offset the additional cost of the steel casting. In the case of large molds, to which our invention more especiwould be considered ally applies, the conditions are somewhat different, the molds are so heavy and so.

many of them are cast in a day that the expense'of the steel casting for the whole mold prohibitive. Therefore, for-large molds, we prefer the construction mold 19 is constructed with a joint at 20, so

i that the lower. section 21 is made of cast -iron and the upper section 22, enclosing the vacuum chamber 3, is made asteel casting.

arate, the first cost is reduced and the life .of the mold 21 becomes independent of the vacuum chamber 22. In this two section mold 19,-" the lugs 24 are in the same relative position as before, at the top of the full section of the mold wall 4, because the thin outer chamber wall 8 would not be strong enough to withstand the" strains due to stripping. The two sections 21 and 22 are fastened together by means of the flanges 25 and 26, respectively, and the bolts 27. The upper section 22, enclosing the vacuum chamber 3, isprovided with lugs 28 for lifting with a crane sling orchains.

The outer chamber wall 8 has an opening for the exhaust pipe 29, which is welded to the wall 8 at 30 to insure an air tight joint. The pipe 29 is provided with a valve 31 or' other closure, nipple 32 and cap 33, which actsas an auxiliary closure and which is put o'n immediately after the exhaust connection has been removed. The valve 31 is protected by a hood 34, which is provided with lugs'35 that straddle the pipe 29 and which setsin between theelbow 36 of the pipe 29 and the outer chamber wall 8, and

is further held in place and prevented from rattling by a wire loop 37 passing around the nipple 32 and through the hole 38 in the hood 34, the twisted ends 39 of the wire loop 37'being sealed at 40. By this construction of the exhaust valve 31 and the hood 34, no external lugs or projections are requiredto be cast on the molds 1 or 22 for the'protection of the valve 31.

According to common practice, the inside surface 41 of the mold 1 is tapered so that the mold may be readily lifted or stripped from the ingot whencast. In mold 19, the

inside surfaces of the lower section 21 and the upper section 22 are tapered in a similar manner, except that the upper surface. 42 is set in'slightly from the lower surface 43 to make sure that the lower section '21 of the mold 19 will pass the upper portion of the cast ingot when stripping.

I The operation of our invention ,is as follows: the ingot mold 1 or top section 22 is made with'an' annular chamberi 3 having an open top 9 and is then closed with a grooved cover 10 which is welded to the inner and outer chamber walls 5 and 8, respec; tively, the welds extending all the wayaround at 14 and 15, respectively, making the chamber 3 air tight. An opening"to the chamber 3 is made in the side wall '8, the exhaust pipe 29 inserted and preferabl welded at 30 and the valve 31 mounted wit the nipple 32. The cover 10 'is then protected with the clay fill 16. A flexible pipe from an exhausting apparatus is connected to nipple 32 and the chamber 3 is exhausted to practically a perfect vacuum. After the flexible pipe is disconnected, the cap 33 is chamber in both a longitudinal and a trans the provision of an o .65 portion of the mold placed on the nipple 32 to minimize leakage of the valve 31. The completed mold, 1 or 19, sections 21 and 22 assembled, is then placed in position and poured, until the molten metal is about opposite to the grooved cover 10. The inner wall of the vacuum chamberfisoon becomes red hot, but thereafter transmits almost no heat owing to the absence of air in the chamber 3, while at the 'same time, the lower portion of the cast loses heat fast and continuously, both to raise the temperature of the mold wall 4:

' and on account of the radiation due to the large mold surface exposed to the atmos phere. The result is that the upper portion of the cast remains liquid until after. the

main portion of the cast has solidified.

During the solidification of 'the main portion of the cast, if any cavities start to form, the liquid metal above feeds down 'andfills them, so that, when solidification is complete, the ingot is found'to be solid and to contain the minimum percentage of piping and segregation which can be secured by hot top practlce. After'the ingot is stripped,

and the mold becomes cold, the inner wall.

5 has altogether expanded and' con'tracted considerably more than the outer wall 8,, both vertically and horizontally, but no damage results to the mold on account of the flexibility of the grooved cover 10. It is thus seen thatthe general object of the solid ingot is attained by our invention embodying a vacuum chamber in the mold wall and that a construction is provided which is both practical and inexpensive We claim 1. In a mold for casting ingots-and the like characterized by the provision of a vacuum chamber in the upper portion of the mold-wall, saidvacuum chamber having an outer wallr andan inner wall. and being.

provided .with means connecting said inner Wall with said outer wall to compensate,

for the 'unequal expansion and. contraction of said inner and outer walls of said vacuum verse direction.

2. In molds for casting ingots and the like, a mold with a closed chamber-in the upper portion of the mold walls from which the air is exhausted before the ingot is cast, and means for compensating the unequal expansion and contraction of the inner and outer walls of the said chamber in both vertical and lateral directions, consisting of a flexible closure for the said chamber. v

3. A mold having an open cavity in the upper part .of the mold wall, and flexible means connecting the inner and outer walls of said cavity to form a closed chamber.

- 4; An ingot casting mold characterized by pen cavity in the upper wall, and means for closing said cavity to form a chamber, said means consisting of a member 'sufliciently strong to withstand atmospheric pressure and sufficiently flexible to compensate for the unequal expansion and contraction of the inner and outer walls of said chamber in a lateral as well as in a longitudinal direction thereby avoiding rupture of said walls and consequent loss of vacuum.

5. An ingot casting mold characterized by the provision of an open cavity in the upper portion of the mold wall, a flexible memher adapted to close said cavity tocform a space to be used as a vacuum chamber and a refractory material covering said flexible member and filling that portion of the cavity above said flexible member.

6. An ingot casting mold characterized by the provision of-a relatively. deep cavity in the upper portion of the mold wall, each of the side walls of said cavity being integral with'the wall of the mold, and a closure member adapted to be welded to each of the side 'walls of the cavity to form therewith a chamber, said closure member having a curved cross section.

7-. An ingot casting mold characterized by the provision of a continuous open cavity in the upper portion of the wall of the mold,

an. annular flexible member adapted to close said cavity to. form a closed chamber, and means for protecting said flexible member from destruction by spilled metal.

8. In an ingot casting mold having a deep open cavity in the upper portion of 1ts wall; a grooved cover welded to the walls of the cavity to form therewith a vacuum chamber, a protectin fill of refractory material entirely cover ng said grooved member, and a valved closure adapted to connect said vacuum chamber with atmosphere orwith a vacuum producing machine.

9. In an ingot casting mold, a vacuum chamber in the upper portion of the wall of the mold characterized by the provision of longitudinal ribs to strengthen the innerwall .tudinal and lateral stiffening ribs on the inner wall of the vacuum chamber, said ribs extending into the vacuum chamber but spaced from the outer wall thereof.

12. An ingot casting mold characterized by the provision of a vacuum chamber in the upper portion of the wall of the mold, the outer and inner walls of said vacuum chamber being integral continuations of the Wall of the mold and a relatively thin steel plate of curved cross section welded to each ventin .injury to said walls.

13. 11 an ingot castingrmold, avacuum chamber in the upper portion of'the wall of the mold the inner and outer walls of saidvacuum chamber bein relatively thick,

and 'a relatively thin an curved member nermanentlv secured to each of'the relatively thick walls of the vacuum chamber 15 f and by its distortion compensating for the unequal expansion and contraction of said relatively thick walls, one of said relatively thick Walls bein provided with lateral and longitudinal sti ening ribs.

. SAMUEL E. HITT.

JOSEPH 1-. PEYTON.

Witnesses:

ROBERT A. SHRYOGK, GEO. K. SHRYooK, Gno. IF. NUGENT, W. 0. Hoar-minnow. 

